The senior drill instructor found out that I played the trumpet in high school. The next day he gave me a bugle. I had to play Reveille in the morning and Taps at lights out unit the end of boot camp.

Bruh I played taps for a dead mouse in the duty hut at MCT, I feel you

KZfaq: Oh so you watched Blue Devils? I think you’ll be interested in musician boot camp! Me: no! No! NO!

For anyone enlisting in the military remember these two tips to never get in trouble. 1) When in doubt, drink water. 2) Do what the person to the left and or right of you are doing

Holy shit dude you were in my company on the Island lmao

So in boot camp I was actually in charge of teaching other recruits how to march correctly if they were really bad at it. I got this job because one of my DI's noticed that I caught onto drill and marching in general pretty easily and he approached me and asked if I had marched before. I told him I had experience in marching from high school band and Drum and Bugle Corps(I marched Crossmen 2017). He didn't know what it was and I gave him a brief explanation about it and he was amazed. That billet was pretty nice because while the platoon was getting lit up, I was chillin on the side teaching recruits how to march better.

I went to Army Basic training in 1986 as a percussionist for the 156th LA Army National Guard Band. I went completely unnoticed and they did not find out about my MOS until after we graduated!!!

As a marine, I really appreciated your take on boot camp as a musician. My MOS was...gulp....food service. It wasn’t my first choice but I was dumb enough to say yes because I was so motivated to be a marine that it didn’t matter what job I did. Was I so wrong!!

I was floored when you said “I was 28 when i went through boot camp” Dude.....I thought you were 25 right now lol.

We had a little band geek, when asked by our Senior Drill instructor (who was a big Force Recon Marine) he admitted that he played jazz and yes some times because of that, the flute. The Senior Drill instructor went off, acted, pissed, embarrassed, ashamed... but after that, we (me especially) had a lot of respect for the little birth-control glasses wearing geek! Because he was very: Smart, unapologetic, honest, tough, determined, unflinching... wanted to be a U.S. Marine! Another was a professional "Easy-Listening" radio station D.J.. THAT WAS HILARIOUS! He confused the $**T out of the Drill Instructors when he spoke with his "smooth and easy listening" voice! They had to do double takes and ask him W.T.F.!

Me: sees the notification requirement, knowing that I should smash the bell. Also me: realizes I already did that a long time ago and silently is proud of myself.

In the Army you'll be found out fast. It's auto-specialist and DS's love to pick on specialists. Nothing a DS hates more than someone getting a free E-4 for playing a musical instrument.

Your hair looks like the automatone in the background

I went to Navy Bootcamp back in 1974. They found out I played 4 years trumpet in High School Band and I spent the following 8 weeks in the San Diego's Bootcamp Drum and Bugle Corp. No longer had to carry a rifle but sure got tired playing "Anchor's Away" every time we passed the Admin Bldg (at least 6 times a day). Also Had to preform at the weekly graduation ceremonies. Got to go off base several times to play special gigs which was always a nice treat. Still had to perform all the testing and training the regular boots had to. Finally rotated out after 11 weeks. We boot buglers didn't have to stand firewatch duties but we had to accompany the duty company every night to play "To the Colors". I was fascinated at how they managed to keep the recorded sound that played throughout the base and our sound synchronized so well. We were told later that there was a hidden microphone and we were playing live. Bootcamp was the end of my military musical career. Spent the next 20 years in the Submarine Service as a Firecontrolman. Thanks for the video

I always look forward to the fills in every episode.

Hey dude, I was in your company as a band kid too! Nice to see that you’re killing it out there man.

DI: "Are you a virgin!?" Poor Kid: "AYE AYE SIR!!"

“This one time at boot camp”

I went thru Boot Camp In 1973 my Grandson just finished in July 2019! A lot sure has changed but one thing remains the same the experience is Life Changing.

Congratulations on 20,000 subs, I can’t wait for my hertas 2😁

That tri-pod actually looked like a rifle because you showed it to us for so short of time my mind replaced it with a rifle.

Eric went to boot camp with my Stepson Robert. When they graduated there was a snow storm. His Dad could not attend because of the weather. We are from the same State so we offered and gave Eric a ride back home with us. I made them take a picture with the base General ( long story ). I asked Robert about " the drummer" often.. Glad I found this.

As an Air Force musician, I went through the same process but since I am a guitar player, I did 2 auditions, one for rock/pop music and one for jazz. In the AF, we had a similar status known as Direct Duty Assignment which meant that we went straight to work and our duty station right after boot camp. Even while on duty, other MOSs had a hard time conceiving that I was a musician. They didn't realize that you had to be qualified BEFORE you even entered BC. Like most other MOSs, they had to go to a "tech school" to learn their job after BC. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there was A LOT of jealousy from other airmen, especially the ones with shitty jobs.

15:22 Blue Devils 2019: "Ghostlight"

Boot camp must have changed since I went through in the mid-'80s. There was no special dispensation for recruits that had a contract for one of the musician MOSs. One reason was that there was a 50% attrition rate at the SOM. (They don't tell you that when they are recruiting you.) Having a contract for musician doesn't mean that you won't end up in the grunts, cooks, Motor T, or supply. I was in the Little End of the 2nd MAR DIV Band and we were trained in internal and perimeter security, which was what we did when we deployed to Desert Storm. We set up camp guard at the staging area and then went up to build the division rear near the Kuwait border and establish the guard for it. After the cease fire, they sent our axes to our location in the desert and we started building our chops back up. We went back to the staging area and played for those returning from the front. Then we went back home first and played for everybody returning home. You hit the best thing to do in boot camp, though: bearing. Maintain your bearing. You'll need it later too in the fleet, especially if you end up in a field band. You have to be able to have a bad attitude and still look like you are squared away. The belligerence of the Little End came out in our dedication to excellence, both on the parade deck as well as in the field. You don't stop being screwed with in boot camp. it continues in the fleet. You just have to learn how to screw back in a way that they can't deny that you are the best. You only *start* learning how to do that in boot camp by just keeping your bearing. By the way, if you've ever heard of Maj Gene Duncan who wrote all those sea story books from the Marines, and if you've ever seen his write-up for the Marine Corps bandsmen, we are the ones who changed his minds on that back at CAO '88. One of our guys wrote him to tell him how much he liked the books, so Dunk came out to the field to visit us. He expected to see a bunch of pansies out there disgusted at the dirt. What he saw was my squad emerge from the woods where he didn't see us. We were being trained by a maverick from recon how to set up an impenetrable defensive perimeter and perform effective patrols. We were musicians, but we were also Marines, as hardened as the best.

Nobody: Not a soul: No human being in existence: Drill Instructor: *HiT iT, sCrIbE!*

Idk why this video was in my recommend section but I approve of your Brave Little Toaster poster

"O-3 11.5 Infantry Squad Leader Guidesman"? I'm laughing so hard right now.

Wow only 20K? I honestly feel like this channel deserves many more subs, love the videos keep up the great work

This man is like stevie t with percussion skills rather than guitar skills

I'm in percussion in my school band, and you playing the snares, you are inspirational

I knew there was something familiar about you. I'm a drummer, but when I was in I was a CH-53 crew chief. Semper Fi brother.

did you intentionally put the ad right between the grace note and the shot of the second tenor lick? love it

This was cracking me up! Your reenactments were comedy gold! I went to basic training in the Army a long time ago and it's funny how much is exactly the same.

Hello! I just joined drum line at my high school and you inspired me to start. I have never played an instrument before but it seemed like a good opportunity to start. Thank you! Edit: I’m doing Cymbals

I was an army musician and my drill sergeant found out my cousin and I were army bandsmen. This was on the first day. We played trumpet but we were call the piccolo players. It could be anywhere the drill sergeant would say "where's my piccolo players at" we would have to stand up and sing the army song or recite the soldiers creed. The one thing that we noticed was we would not get f'ed with if another drill outside of our company tried to mess with us. They would take clam of us to say. Those are my piccolo players you don't mess with them. Half way through basic. We found out there were 12 other bandsmen there. And told us we haven't said anything because we saw you guys take the hit. But by the end we were the most respected soldiers in the company and our company did so well in one of our evaluation to song the army song as a company because so many other soldiers heard us sing it right. We helped all of our battle Buddies sing it correctly from listening to us. The last day before we shipped of the Virginia to attend the school of music. My drill sergeant made sure to come out a praise us in front of the whole company that we were the best soldiers he's ever had the privilege to instruct. And told us can't wait to see you guy outside of basic. He wanted us to be part of his regular company in the real army. I felt good. I just retired after 22 years and was the best decisions I've ever made for my life. Join. Do it. It will be tge ride of your life and meet the best friends for life.

I leave on October 14th this year as a Marine musician. Percussionist like you but just in the field bands. Always loved your videos and now I love them even more! Thanks for the tips and funny stories!

I went to Parris island in 1969. While in boot camp I auditioned for the drum and bugle corp. My DI found out that I was excepted. My life was hell for the rest of my time in boot camp. I was in the FMF PAC Drum and Bugle Corp, Hawaii.

I went through Navy boot camp in the late 70s as a NEC 3813 aka percussionist. My Company Commander was a good guy and my extra duty was Master at Arms. My biggest obstacle was that I was overweight and was worried about the PT. But I ended up losing weight and doing very well. Navy boot camp is not as intense as the Marines but I was glad when it was over. Cool video! Great advice!

Every marine is trained as a basic infantry rifleman no matter their MOS this vid brought back a ton of memories from boot camp!

This video made my night, thanks for the constant quality content :)

Falling back in training is no joke. Especially if your family already bought plane tickets for your graduation. Falling back means your original graduation date is void. I was about to get knocked back because I had pneumonia during swim qual. Couldn’t find the doc so I wrote his signature on my chit releasing me to swim.there was no way he was going to sign it. I’m sure senior DI knew that it was forged just by looking at my face and lack of color. I didn’t care that I was deathly sick.I was determined to graduate on time for my family. This was definitely the hardest part of boot for me. Doing swim qual week with pneumonia was tough. Once I almost drowned lol. I was able to walk away with a number 2 swim qual and graduated on time.

I love how you put little beats in between clips, it makes the video flow better and is entertaining 👍

I was a high school All American musician. I bet nobody knew such a thing existed. I played sax in school, but learned to play most other wind instruments as well. I joined a rock band at age of 30, but also worked 35 years in a foundry when I got out of high school. I did learn to play guitar and bass from playing in a band. But no military for me. Just a dumb foundry worker. I agree, I don't actually know why I was directed here, but I could not shut your video off. Very useful information, for a kid entering the service. I have a son already in the Navy, but he is in the Arabian Sea, watching the Iranians. He plays some guitar, but my other son went on the road with his band for a couple of years. They even played the Whiskey a go go. I almost forgot, I have a twin brother, and he is a drummer and a singer, who has played in bands since high school. And by the way, thank you for your service.

Today is June 18th, and I'm watching this one again. I think this is one of my favorite videos from Eric. 😉 I've probably watched this at least 10 times. Always makes me laugh. 🤣Great dialogue from so many of his great characters! 🤪 And so many common sense rules to follow!😎

Great production and editing. Very valuable information for those who'll need it.

Wow this video was amazing. Your editing and acting is great and it's really funny. Thanks

Being a musician saved my ass in AF basic . My DI rode me pretty hard being an Air Force brat who's dad had just retired as a CMSgt. , he also found out I had 3 years of NJROTC and 4 years Army ROTC before I enlisted . Music wasn't my MOS , but he caught me one day playing guitar at the base library , he played too and his attitude did a whole 180 on me.

to civilian who give you a hard time for being a Musician one truth remain. You are a U.S. Marine and they are not. Semper fi!

Congrats on 20k my dude!! Also yay for story time with chicken

Dude, I would do boot camp all over again to watch the DI's harass you. You've got some great stories! Ok...no... that's not true. There's no way I'd willingly do Recruit Training again. But, you still have some of the best stories I've heard. I was a computer guy ("Data Dink") and was likewise harassed because of it. Though not nearly as bad as you. Thanks for another great video. Semper Fi!

This guy deserves more subscribers. Comedy style is great

Nice, long time follower. Love the content ❤️

Ah.....boot camp stories. Wonderful stuff. Just to let you know as Drill Instructors we already know what MOS a recruit is going to be. If one of your DIs shares the same MOS, or even DIs in the same series, you will get an extra ration of shit. That happened to me. There was a DI in my series that was a helicopter aircrewman. He always had something to say whenever he saw me. I hated him at the time, but when I got to my first squadron he was there, and he was actually pretty cool. A great mentor, he was the one to push me into going to the drill field. I have too many stories as a DI. As for my stories as a recruit..... 1) It might have been a couple of days after pickup, or even just one, but there was one recruit that just could not take it anymore. He refused to do anything. "I just want to go home." Our DIs were all over this kid. Still, no change. We went to evening chow. In the mess hall this kid was separated from the rest of us where all the DIs in the series were on his ass. Just a couple of minuted after sitting down the MPs arrived to "handle the situation". Needless to say the rest of us were scared shitless. 2) You are constantly made to drink water, but especially in the summer which is when I was there. The command would come "drink water now!" to which we proceeded to consume the contents of both our canteens. Well, we had one guy that would puke almost every time after doing this. He was dropped. 3) on butt detail at the range... one of our DIs told us to shut the Hell up. Stupidly I leaned over to my partner and asked him a question. Very shortly there after I felt a hand upon the back side of my bald head followed by the words "bitch, I said shut up!" 4) Our squad bay was on the first deck. There was a Pepsi machine outside of the series office. At night we would go out there and get drinks. Two recruits were caught. I leave the rest to your imagination. 5) During the Senior DI inspection I was called up to the quarterdeck for rifle inspection. The DI doing greeted me by saying "I bet you I can find some dirt." Like an idiot I took him up on the bet. I thought "he ain't going to find anything. I know my shit is clean." He performed the inspection, and even complimented me; "recruit, this is a damn fine rifle. There is just one last thing for me to check, and he took a swab to the buffer retaining pin. He found the smallest speck of dirt that can be seen unaided. The bet was going around to all the pits on the island, and not just the ones at 3rd Battalion. Back then 3rd Bn was over by the commissary. After finishing up at 1st and 2nd Bn he started to take me back to my squad bay. But....like an idiot I said "what about 4th Bn, sir? And Weapons Bn?" The lesson from this is KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.

7:27 should be called "The 22,222 Lick" in honor of both drum 2 and the eventual 22,222 subscribers. Hahah.

Thank you for this! I emailed you about it and this answered my question!

Thanks for this video! I was always curious about musician in boot camp

Outstanding! Wild man!

I just like how it shows the sheet music and it says “sticks”

Just came back from Boot Camp a couple days ago, and I have a musician MOS as well! Those stories remind me of my time on Parris Island! 😅

I found this video to be highly entertaining. Well done

This was randomly recommended to me and I am here for it

When I did my basic training in the Swedish military my commands soon after my arrival understood that I was a musician. So for my whole training every Friday I had to march to the front of my platoon and conduct my friends to sing a song called "I want to be yours Margareta".

I'm rewatching this and the part that gets me is when you say "we can't carry on with the night until sasafrass stops checking out his nipples!!" 😂😂😂😂

Love the ‘Q’ in the background. Nice video. I got made first week of third phase. Was asked if I was interested in doing force recon because of my swim qual. I told him I was a 9812 (what 5512 used to be) and then I got lit up daily for the next three weeks.

All the Army musicians I've met, whether in the US Army Jazz Ensemble or the 101st Airborne Division Band, have been outstanding. I even had 2 musicians as neighbors for a while.

Thank you for your service 🙂. Love your channel 👍

MCRD San Diego, Golf CO, Plt 2008, March 1983. Your stories brought back so many memories!!! Love it!!!!

I stumbled on your channel late one night when heavily intoxicated. I knew there was a reason I liked you. Semper Fi brother

I love how I'm a Trombone player and I still love these lol.

Good morning! Happy 20k hertas!

Love the drum breaks!

One of my high school marching band instructors used to be a army drill instructor when we do pushups he has us do it in 1 2 3 1, 1 2 3 2 which is how you do it in the military and he is very good at pt

I leave for navy boot camp on September 12th. Hopefully you hit 22222 before I leave

really went all in on the rubber chickens. must make room inspections fun.

I went through Air Force basic training also as a musician, drummer. It was pretty sweet, no kp or other details.

I laughed pretty hard at this. I loved the “hit it scribe” whisper and walk away. That would’ve been pretty funny. Also the story about making the DS laugh also made me crack up. These situations remind of the what the rookies go through at the drum corps I marched.

I never figured people wouldn't know that you could bust out a beat with your feet. I do it all the time and take it for granted. Not sure where it started (certainly drumming duh) but I seem to remember doing it with fellow line members while at attention waiting for the director to stop reaming out the woodwinds or something.

Ooh freaking rah... Happy birthday devil dog... Love your boot camp story.. " hit it"...

Fun stories.. Thanks for posting Devil Dog.. Thanks for your service..

Don’t know how I came across your video. Thanks for the laughs. My stomachs hurts. Semper fi brother.

I have signed to the USMC and I've been looking for a video like this

Had a band contract in our cycle literally not even do the crucible and still passed, we beat the shit out of him during Marine Week

12:14 you seem a little too happy about that fact xD

13:26 I wonder how proud the marines are for having a musician that dresses up like this😂

This is golden for anyone who has been through basic training 😂

Dude's got skills! I was 28 when I went through and I KNOW you were also called grandpa... weren’t ya! WEREN'T YA! I’m also a percussionist, but sold my set when I was in the dorms. They originally let me have an empty room next door, but I don’t think they actually knew how LOUD a set can actually be. Worst mistake I ever made! Awesome video and you EARNED a subscriber!

1:05 Actually, I enjoyed boot camp at at MCRD PISC. And, I had a D&B contract. USMC 1986 - 1994

Like these boot camp videos you put up . The first one I watched was DCI vs Boot showed my stepson that one and I’m going to show him this one. He’s signed up for the corps and is leaving in October for boot

Tips 1. Integrity violations I never saw anyone get dropped for anything but injury or failure of running (not even physical standards just running) but an integrity violation means they will treat you worse than everyone else and you have 0 trust wither you lied or someone said you lied don't give the DIs a reason to question you 2. The whole remediation thing i won't say this guy is lying but I personally never saw or knew anyone to get dropped back further than a week unless they were injured than your progress halts till you heal. 3. Don't get noticed. Don't say anything and practice proficiency because good or bad publicity is bad (and stressful) 4. Do maytag (laundry dude) you can basically take turns on fire watch while doing laundry. Trust me you are going to feel sleep deprived go for maytag. 5. Motivation is key in this swamp. 6. Do not cough in your sleeve if you are at attention, if you have to bite the bottom of your lip in your mouth. 7. Letters are worth more than gold, you tell whoever to send letters via sandbox and tell them to send a lot, realize the devil lives on that island and you are in the pits of despair.

So, I got in trouble in boot camp because one of my Junior DI’s didn’t know my name (it was third phase), he said if I was good enough to hide in plain site, then I was good enough to stand out. And, my senior DI happened to be a bass drummer from the unit. I was signed up to be in the band, but he talked me into d&b because I marched civilian drum corps. (Back in the days when wee still went to school of music)

Fascinating info. Thanks.

Lol I’ve seen it all

Congratulations man

I don't care what instrument you play, Your DIs will say you play the skin flute. Good times! 3085 Kilo!!! 5547 Tuba Player!

This was a hilarious video!

Love the vids keep it up

I always wonder how different my life would be if I had pursued music in the Corps! I was 4 years out of Drum Corps and talked myself out of trying because shooting rockets off of my shoulder at tanks sounded awesome.

You don't know how much I needed this😅 leave for Marine boot in a month and I am trying to prepare for them to yell at me for being a musician.

11:45 Back in the day, every guy who had high school gym class used the communal shower, and if you lived in a state University dormitory you also used a communal shower.